October 17, 2007 - Who are these guys? They carry machine guns; wear dark glasses so we cannot see their eyes; and stand menacingly in the background. They aren’t in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, or Marines. They don’t take orders from any General or Admiral of America’s armed forces. They aren’t responsible to any civil officer of the United States Government. They are not subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice nor are they apparently accountable for their conduct under any provision of the United States Code. It is apparently US policy that they are not subject to local law in the countries in which they operate. They work for companies with strange names; Blackwater, Dynacorp, Triple Canopy. Or do they?
Take Blackwater as an example. In the short six and years since the Al Qaeda attack on the United States Blackwater has grown from a start up operation to one with 1 Billion Dollars in income from contracts with the United States government. Its mission statement published on the Web contains this statement: “Blackwater is committed to supporting national and international security policies that protect those who are defenseless and provide a free voice for all . We dedicate ourselves to providing ethical, efficient, and effective turnkey solutions that positively impact the lives of those still caught in desperate times.” http://www.blackwaterusa.com/about/missionstatement.asp
Who defines for Blackwater what constitutes “national and international security policies that protect those who are defenseless and provide a free voice for all”? Is it the Department of Homeland Security? Does the Department of Defense provide such a definition to Blackwater’s corporate managers? Or is it the Blackwater CEO who decides which policies of the United States are worthy of support and which policies must be opposed with all of the company’s considerable resources?
Blackwater, with considerable assistance from the Bush Administration, has created its private army, air force, and navy reportedly with a strength of 20,000 well armed and supplied warriors primed and ready for action. This independent force has bases in North Caroline and Northwest Illinois and is seeking to establish a third outside of San Diego. We need to understand just who controls this private army supported by your tax dollars.
We can find a hint on the Blackwater USA website. It features a newsletter to which you can subscribe they call Blackwater Tactical Weekly. Take the September 3rd Edition. It includes: an article reprinted from the Weekly Standard touting victory over Al Qaeda in Iraq; an article by Pat Buchanan entitled “Can We Win The Ideological War” reprinted from The American Conservative; An opinion piece reprinted from The Boston Globe entitled “Good News – But Not For The Democrats”; and more in a similar vein. http://www.blackwaterusa.com/archive/default.asp
It is clear that in addition to the high sounding purpose contained in its published mission statement Blackwater USA has its political agenda and it is packing the heat to back it up.
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